Bundeskartellamt has cleared plans by AMEOS Psychiatrie Holding GmbH to acquire Sana-Kliniken Ostholstein GmbH. Sana Ostholstein runs three general hospitals in Fehmarn, Eutin and Oldenburg, and a geriatric specialist clinic in Middelburg. The AMEOS group is one of the large private health care providers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, operating more than 95 facilities at more than 50 locations.
This merger had already been notified to the Bundeskartellamt in 2018. At that time, the Bundeskartellamt had expressed competition concerns due to AMEOS’s ties with Schön Klinik Neustadt, which is also located in Ostholstein, via a joint investor (Carlyle). Following these concerns, AMEOS withdrew the notification at the time.
Carlyle has recently sold its interest in AMEOS to another financial investor (ICG). While this investor also holds other interests in the German health care sector, it has no shares in acute care clinics in the Ostholstein district. AMEOS itself has also hardly been active in this field in Ostholstein.
Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt, said, “Since AMEOS has taken the competition concerns expressed by the Bundeskartellamt into account and the connection to Schön Kliniken has been terminated, the acquisition of Sana-Kliniken in Ostholstein no longer raises any competition concerns.”
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